Choose a conventional smoothie if you want a drink sold as a smoothie, particularly in a larger bottle or small multipack. Choose a sparkling fruit drink if fizz and individual cans or bottles matter more, but do not assume it has smoothie texture or a high juice content. For a bulk purchase, compare the product name, pack format, juice content and sugars per serving.
Individual cans or bottles can suit a shared fridge or occasions when people want separate servings. Check whether the pack contains a carbonated juice drink, sparkling juice or a fruit-flavoured soft drink; these are not interchangeable with smoothies.
If smoothie texture and a product labelled as a smoothie are the priority, consider the 750ml bottles or children’s 150ml multipacks listed by Tesco and Waitrose & Partners. Their smoothie listings do not establish that these drinks are sparkling.
Check the sugars in the portion someone would actually drink, not just the figure per 100ml. GOV.UK guidance recommends limiting children’s fruit juice and smoothies to 150ml a day; check the product category before applying that guidance to a drink.
Choose when: You want a product sold as a smoothie rather than a fizzy drink; Tesco and Waitrose & Partners list larger bottles and small multipacks.
Bear in mind: The cited smoothie listings do not establish carbonation.
Choose when: Fizz and separate cans or bottles matter more than smoothie texture.
Bear in mind: Juice content and sugars differ between the sparkling products listed by Ocado and Sainsbury's; a fruit-flavoured soft drink is not necessarily a high-juice drink.
Settle the smoothie-or-fizz question first, then compare labels and pack formats within the category you intend to buy.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Drink type | Read the product name and ingredients. Check whether it is labelled a smoothie, sparkling juice, carbonated juice drink or sparkling soft drink. | I want smoothie texture, not merely a drink with fruit flavour and fizz — or I need carbonation and would rather buy separate cans. |
| Sugars per serving | Compare sugars per 100ml and per stated serving, taking account of each can or bottle size. A no-added-sugar label does not state the total sugars. | When stocking up for repeated use, I want to know what is in the portion we are likely to pour or open. |
| Juice content | Look for the stated juice percentage and whether the drink contains juice from concentrate or sweeteners. Ocado lists over 60% juice for one M&S carbonated drink and 8% for Radnor Fizz Forest Fruits; Sainsbury's lists 5% for Rubicon Tropical. | Fizz appeals to me, but I also care whether I am buying a juice-led drink or a soft drink containing a smaller amount of juice. |
| Pack and storage | Compare the number and size of servings, then read the storage and after-opening instructions on the pack. | Individual portions may suit our plans; a larger smoothie bottle makes more sense if we expect to share it and can use it as directed after opening. |
| Children’s portions | Check the drink category and serving volume. GOV.UK recommends a maximum of 150ml of fruit juice and smoothies a day for children; that guidance should not be treated as a classification of every sparkling soft drink. | If children will have the drinks, I want to plan what goes into a glass rather than assume a whole can or bottle is the intended portion. |
A fizzy fruit drink may be labelled as sparkling juice or a soft drink, while the smoothie products listed by Tesco and Waitrose & Partners are sold under the smoothie category. The distinction matters if texture or carbonation is the reason for buying.
Decide which matters more, then check the product name and ingredients before choosing a multipack.
The cans and bottles in a multipack are not all the same size. Ocado lists 26g sugars per 250ml can for Appletiser, while its Radnor Fizz listing gives 1g per 100ml; those figures use different measurement bases.
Read both the per-100ml figure and the amount in the serving you expect to use. Do not treat “no added sugar” as a statement that a drink contains no sugars.
Sainsbury's lists 5% fruit juice for Rubicon Tropical, Ocado lists 8% for Radnor Fizz Forest Fruits and over 60% for the M&S Juicy Pineapple & Passion Fruit drink. All are sparkling options, but their stated juice proportions differ.
Use the juice percentage and ingredient list to distinguish a juice-led drink from a fruit-flavoured soft drink.
GOV.UK recommends limiting children’s fruit juice and smoothies to 150ml a day, while some individually packed fruit drinks come in 250ml or 330ml containers. The guidance concerns fruit juice and smoothies, not every drink with a fruit flavour.
Check both the product type and volume when deciding how much to serve.
These examples illustrate the difference between listed smoothies and sparkling fruit drinks; they do not imply that every product from a brand has the same formulation.
Waitrose & Partners lists Innocent smoothies in a 750ml bottle and children’s 4x150ml and 10x150ml multipacks.
Tesco Groceries lists a Naked Green Machine smoothie in a 750ml bottle.
Ocado describes M&S Juicy Pineapple & Passion Fruit as a no-added-sugar carbonated juice drink containing over 60% juice.
Sainsbury's lists Rubicon sparkling fruit juice soft drinks in six- and eight-can packs.
Ocado lists Radnor Fizz Forest Fruits as a sparkling soft drink in a 4x330ml bottle pack.
These cans and bottles are options for the fizzy-drink side of the decision. If you specifically want a smoothie, check for a product labelled as one rather than treating these drinks as equivalent.
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A twelve-can sparkling soft-drink pack for separate servings at a shared occasion. It is not a smoothie; check the nutrition label if sugars per can matter to your choice.
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Four individual bottles suit a smaller stock-up when fizz is the priority. This is a sparkling soft drink rather than a smoothie; its listed ingredients include sugar and sucralose.
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A 24-can option for buyers seeking a fizzy apple-flavoured soft drink rather than smoothie texture. It contains sweeteners and a source of phenylalanine; check the label if that is relevant to you.
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A six-can sparkling apple juice option if juice content matters more to you than smoothie texture. Ocado’s listing for this 6x250ml product gives 26g sugars per can; it is sparkling juice, not a smoothie.
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Eight separate cans suit a shared supply of sparkling soft drink, not a purchase intended to provide smoothies. The listed ingredients include barley; check the pack’s allergen information where relevant.
No. Tesco and Waitrose & Partners list products sold as smoothies, while the cited M&S and Rubicon fizzy products are described as carbonated or sparkling fruit drinks. Read the product name and ingredients if smoothie texture, rather than just fruit flavour, is important.
No. Ocado describes the M&S Juicy Pineapple & Passion Fruit carbonated juice drink as having no added sugar, but its listing gives 25.4g total sugars per 330ml can. Compare the nutrition information per serving as well as per 100ml.
GOV.UK recommends limiting children’s fruit juice and smoothies to a maximum of 150ml a day. When buying a multipack for children, check both its product category and the volume in each container rather than assuming that one whole can or bottle matches that guidance.